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My landlord just unleashed the worst verbal vitriol on me and I am afraid


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The good thing is that I am moving out of my place in a week. I have lived in my current place for nearly 8 years, have always paid my rent every month in full, have never caused any trouble and have not damaged a stitch of the property in my time here.

 

I had to give my current landlord short notice because a much better place with much cheaper rent literally fell into my lap, but I still paid for the entire month of February, including utilities. My landlord is nevertheless convinced that I am an awful tenant, and left me a voice message that began with, "Listen up, Chicken Sh*t" and asked that I call her. She's verbally been bully-ish to me before, so I have tried to avoid talking to her over the phone or in person and to communicate via email. But I felt she'd only escalate if I didn't call her back. So I did, and what ensued was the most psycho, most horrifically abusive unleashing on me that I have experienced to date from anyone, business or personal, in my life. It is several hours later and I am having trouble typing because my hands are still shaking. Among such insults as, "Look at you, 40 years old and not married because no one wants to marry you," she also threatened to have the locks changed tomorrow, to throw my things out onto the lawn, and to rip up my check for all of February's rent because it's "dirty money" (I almost laughed at the last one and would have, if I weren't almost crying from all the other things she said.)

 

I'm moving in a week, rushing to finish packing to be ready for the movers and to have time to clean the apartment from top to bottom before I leave and after my furniture is gone. She and her husband have moved a few states away while her son is living at and overseeing their home and the maintenance of my rental property that is an extension of their property (separate building), but she is driving here in a few days solely to "see about the apartment."

 

I am afraid of her. I am certain that had our conversation this evening taken place face to face, she would have tried to hit or push me. I got the distinct feeling that she is really jonesing for a fight and that her whole M.O. is to be as absolutely awful as she possibly can. I will be gone during the week for as long as 10 hours each day, possibly 12 hours some days, and I am afraid for my things; I am afraid she will change the locks on me; I am afraid for my physical safety.

 

Do I have any recourse? The conversation tonight--I wish I'd thought to record it because it was so psycho, no exaggeration, and cruel--made me consider calling the police to see about a restraining order, but without proof of imminent danger of some sort, they won't do anything. I can't move sooner because I've already paid the $500 deposit for the movers for the day next week. I'm thinking of asking a friend to come here and stay with me, but I fear no one will believe me that I have reason to be afraid of my landlord, since no one but me heard our conversation. Besides, it's not at night that I'm scared of her, but during the day, when I fear for my belongings, and in the evenings, when I will be home.

 

I'd been telling myself before tonight that after next week I will never have to see or deal with her again, but seeing how bent on some kind of drama she seems to be, now I'm not so sure. I'm taking photos of everything and putting everything into writing with her. Except, unfortunately, that conversation. What can I do to protect myself and my things?

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How frightening. I'd be still shaking if I were you.

 

Do you know if she's got a history of hurting any previous tenants? Having someone stay with you is not a bad idea. Is there anyone who could do it?

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How frightening. I'd be still shaking if I were you.

 

Do you know if she's got a history of hurting any previous tenants? Having someone stay with you is not a bad idea. Is there anyone who could do it?

 

Re: her behavior towards previous tenants, I think she only had one before me. The only thing I know is that even though she was extremely nice the first few years I was there, I had this uncomfortable intuition about her that something was..."off." I felt guilty about it because she was so nice, but then she yelled at me one day and I was like, "That's it--that's what I was sensing beneath the seeming niceness." And one thing I've learned is that when someone is this way to one person, no doubt they're that way to others.

 

Re: would someone stay with me, there are some people who no doubt would want to if they could...but they have families and lives and it's not the greatest proposition given my stuff is everywhere getting packed up. The thing is, even if they can sleep over they won't be able to guard my stuff during the day or necessarily be there every evening with me, which is when I fear a confrontation from her.

 

Is there anything I could do to keep her away from me until I can get moved out? I'm also afraid she will end up changing the locks on me or something.

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Wow. A lot of spam on your post! Reporting it all..

 

With respect to having someone stay, what you say about your place being in a state of disarray makes sense.

 

I'm in Australia, so I don't know your laws. However, I would expect that even as landlord, she's not able to bust in on you without warning. And with a valid and paid lease, she can't change your locks. If she does either of these things, I'd call the police pronto. And perhaps have a copy of your lease and receipts with you.

 

Does she live in the same building as you?

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Wow. A lot of spam on your post! Reporting it all..

 

With respect to having someone stay, what you say about your place being in a state of disarray makes sense.

 

Maybe I could ask a friend to come spend a few evenings with me, not spend the night? After all, even my landlord has to sleep sometime. Would you do that, for a friend, for a few evenings?

 

I'm in Australia, so I don't know your laws. However, I would expect that even as landlord, she's not able to bust in on you without warning. And with a valid and paid lease, she can't throw you out. If she does either of these things, I'd call the police pronto.

 

If she changes the locks or messes with my stuff in any way, I will call the police. However, she also threatened to start painting the apartment the day I am moving out and I'm afraid she'll come in and start on that while I'm out of the house, and then I can't kick her out and the police couldn't help then. I told her she will have 19 days of the apartment being fully vacated for the month to paint the walls but she wasn't hearing reason. She wants to start painting while I'm still here. That's what I mean when I say I truly fear her: it seems she is deliberately doing whatever she can to make it as hard for me to move as she can, not caring that going about it that way hurts HER.

 

I've thought about calling the police and asking for a restraining order on the basis of severe verbal abuse. But I only have her 13-second voicemail calling me "chicken sh*t" as proof. Do you think the police would bother? Could I at least call and run the situation by them?

 

Does she live in the same building as you?

 

I live in a separate apartment on her property. Just feet away from her house.

 

Yeah, I don't know what's up with all the spam.

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Eternal Sunshine

Is it normal in US to rent directly from a landlord rather than go through an agency? In Australia, real estate agency handles everything and I have never met any of my landlords before.

 

Do you have any kind of formal tenant protection groups that can threaten to sue her?

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I'm seriously out of my depth here. But I suspect she can't just bust in and start painting while all your stuff is there. What country are you in? If it's the US, you may have to wait for the posters to come online tomorrow.

 

In the meantime, are there any tenant's rights groups online? They may be able to answer your questions....even if you find a list of what your rights are.

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Is it normal in US to rent directly from a landlord rather than go through an agency? In Australia, real estate agency handles everything and I have never met any of my landlords before.

 

Do you have any kind of formal tenant protection groups that can threaten to sue her?

 

Both types of rentals happen in the states--direct from landlord and through a broker.

 

I don't know that I would have grounds to sue her given I cannot prove that this horrendous interaction occurred. I really wish I'd managed to record some of it; as I said, all I have is the 13-second voicemail calling me an epithet.

 

I want to protect myself from her. She obviously feels no restraint in being as verbally horrific to me as she wants to be, and I want to prevent her from having an opportunity to do so again. One friend suggests I push a box in front of the door when I'm home next week so that if she knocks and I don't answer, which I won't, if she then tries to let herself in she'll have to push past the box and in the meantime I can call the police.

 

I've also wondered if I could get a combination lock that would work to block a key lock? Meaning, would there be a type of lock I could use without installing anything in the door or such that would override the key so she couldn't come in when I'm gone?

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I'm seriously out of my depth here. But I suspect she can't just bust in and start painting while all your stuff is there. What country are you in? If it's the US, you may have to wait for the posters to come online tomorrow.

 

In the meantime, are there any tenant's rights groups online? They may be able to answer your questions....even if you find a list of what your rights are.

 

Sorry I missed this--we must have posted around the same time.

 

It became clear to me in that psycho conversation with my landlord that she is not at all concerned with the rules and protocol for a landlord/tenant interaction. I don't know why, but she really seems bent on being as ugly as possible on purpose, as though to thwart me, just because she can and with no regard that if she impedes me being able to leave, it impedes her being able to get the apartment ready for a new tenant.

 

I'm also feeling it's possible she is showing signs of early-stage dementia. She was never THIS ugly. She had some real bitchy moments, but this was just...gruesome; her words were a chainsaw. That, and she was totally irrational and even delusional at times.

 

I don't know of any tenant rights groups I could get in touch with here. Where would I find out about such a group?

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I called my local police station first thing this morning and an officer called me back immediately to advise me of what recourse I can take. The officer is going to call her to advise her that she does not have the right to change the locks or throw my things out on the lawn or otherwise tamper with my stuff, and that she could be liable for harassment charges if she continues to verbally assault me.

 

He advised me NOT to threaten to disseminate the recording I considered lying that I made of our conversation last night, because, in his words, that would be "playing into her game." Instead, he advised me to email her to request that from here on all communication with me needs to occur in writing over text or email, not phone calls, voice mails, or in person. I'm composing this email now.

 

The officer is going to get back to me after he has talked to her.

 

Hopefully this will take care of the issue.

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Make sure you take lots of pictures of the way you leave the apartment. It sounds to me like she's doing this to keep your deposit because I don't see any other motivator.

 

It's good that you got the police involved. That was very smart.

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Wow! She is really not happy you're moving out is she!!

 

Couple of questions:

Did you sign or agree to anything when you moved in? If you did either, what were the terms?

Did you pay a deposit when you moved in?

I'm asking these questions for reasons which I'll follow up with.

 

I'm very pleased the police took this seriously, however, you had this idea...

 

Maybe I could ask a friend to come spend a few evenings with me, not spend the night? After all, even my landlord has to sleep sometime. Would you do that, for a friend, for a few evenings?

Absolutely do this (!) even though you have informed the police.

I used to rent one of the spare bedrooms in my house and at one stage I needed to kick someone out under bad circumstances and I got two of my male friends to come over for the evening when he moved his stuff out so as to avoid any hassle from him.

The boys were perfectly happy and sat watching TV but were there just for my personal protection should I need it.

They were fine with doing this for me and nothing happened but I didn't feel silly - I would have felt more stupid if I hadn't got some support with me and something had happened!

 

If you have valuables which you can pack up and store with a friend too I would get that sorted asap - it just makes sense to protect your stuff - just in case.

 

If she comes in painting then you just move out same as you would have - there's no other way around that unless you can move all of your stuff sooner to storage.

 

Have you asked whether you might be able to get access early to your new place and whether the movers could do anything sooner?

It's worth an ask - you never know until you ask.

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Make sure you take lots of pictures of the way you leave the apartment. It sounds to me like she's doing this to keep your deposit because I don't see any other motivator.

 

It's good that you got the police involved. That was very smart.

 

Do video and take pictures with the date and time showing. Also, do not go alone, bring family and/or friends, whoever can help. I suggest the quicker you move out the better off you will be. And yes ask someone to sleep over for the rest of your time there, better to be safe than sorry.

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However, she also threatened to start painting the apartment the day I am moving out and I'm afraid she'll come in and start on that while I'm out of the house, and then I can't kick her out and the police couldn't help then.

 

She can't just come in and start working. I believe in most states, landlords have to give at least 24 hours' notice when they need to enter the apartment. You may want to look that up to be certain. If she gives you proper notice, I guess you'd have to let her in to start painting. If not, she would be trespassing and you should absolutely call the police. Also, keep in mind that since you've paid February rent, that place is yours until the end of the month, even if you move all your stuff out on the 10th. I'm not suggesting that you have anything to do with the place once you've moved out, but just know your rights.

 

So it's her son that you've mostly been dealing with so far? Is he a reasonable person? If he seems decent and fair, you should let him know what's going on and tell him that she threatened to change the locks and move your stuff out. He might be able to talk some sense into her.

 

Set up a camera in your house. They're not that expensive. I'm not sure you can legally change the locks or use some kind of combination lock to prevent them from entering, but you can totally hide a camera in there so you have proof if she comes in and starts damaging/moving your property.

 

Are you a month-to-month renter, or did you sign a lease for a certain length of time? If you signed a lease and you're trying to get out of it early, you might have some more problems coming your way. If you're month-to-month, in my experience, you must give a 30-day notice to vacate. If you did this on the 1st of February, you may not have given a proper 30-day notice, since Feb only has 28 days. I'm honestly not sure how that works, but you may want to find out for certain so that you are 100% in the right, legally.

 

Get all of your paperwork in order. Find a copy of your lease, proof that you've paid your rent, proof that you gave notice to vacate, etc. Document every single thing that happens. Even if it's just a verbal conversation, write down the date, time, and place it happened and what the conversation entailed.

 

For my own curiosity, do you have any idea why she flipped out on you? Like, are you trying to break your lease early, for example? There's no justifying her insanity and verbal abuse, but I'm just wondering if her anger has any basis in reality, at all.

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Wow! She is really not happy you're moving out is she!!

 

Couple of questions:

Did you sign or agree to anything when you moved in? If you did either, what were the terms?

Did you pay a deposit when you moved in?

I'm asking these questions for reasons which I'll follow up with.

 

I've lived there since July 2010, and for the first year, there was a lease. After that it was month to month, with an agreement from HER that she would give me at least a couple months' notice if she needed me to move out. I verbally agreed to give her a couple months' notice, "if possible" (her words). In this case, unfortunately it was not possible because the new apartment was an opportunity that fell into my lap just over the past several weeks. I dreaded giving her notice because I feared some irrational, abusive response from her but I had no idea it would be as bad as it was. In the end, I gave her 30 days' notice, not to the actual day I am moving out but to the end of February, for which I paid the full months' rent and utilities.

 

Re: deposit, no, she never asked for a deposit nor the last month's rent.

 

 

I'm very pleased the police took this seriously, however, you had this idea...

 

 

Absolutely do this (!) even though you have informed the police.

I used to rent one of the spare bedrooms in my house and at one stage I needed to kick someone out under bad circumstances and I got two of my male friends to come over for the evening when he moved his stuff out so as to avoid any hassle from him.

The boys were perfectly happy and sat watching TV but were there just for my personal protection should I need it.

They were fine with doing this for me and nothing happened but I didn't feel silly - I would have felt more stupid if I hadn't got some support with me and something had happened!

 

Thanks for the encouragement. I have one friend who lives five minutes away and who has insisted she will come over a.s.a.p. if there is any problem, as well as to just come over one evening next week. I'm going to ask two other girlfriends, hopefully so that Mon., Tues., and Wed. evenings there will be a second car in my driveway and someone in the apartment with me that surely will make my landlord think twice before coming by and demanding to talk to me. I'm pretty confident she won't dare be so ugly to me in front of someone else. She's "clever" with her abuse in that she is good at hiding how horrific she really is; and she targeted me, no doubt, because for a long time I was very isolated in this small town and she knew that.

 

I still don't know what I can do while I'm away at work, in terms of my things. As you suggested below, I am moving an expensive musical instrument to a friend's house tomorrow because I wouldn't put it past my landlord to take it just to be a jerk. She is very vindictive as I saw in spades last night and honestly I wouldn't put it past her to poison my water that I keep in a Brita pitcher in my fridge, or do something like that.

 

Is there a way I can lock my front door with a combo lock or something that would override the key lock? So that someone with the key, but without the combo, could not enter my apartment?

 

If you have valuables which you can pack up and store with a friend too I would get that sorted asap - it just makes sense to protect your stuff - just in case.

 

If she comes in painting then you just move out same as you would have - there's no other way around that unless you can move all of your stuff sooner to storage.

 

Have you asked whether you might be able to get access early to your new place and whether the movers could do anything sooner?

It's worth an ask - you never know until you ask.

 

I just got the keys to my new place today and am going to take a few things up there in my car every day after work, which is halfway between the new apartment and my current one. I don't think the movers can come any sooner, maybe one day sooner but I don't think I would be ready. Originally they were coming on Thursday and then my official move-out day was to be Friday, so I could clean the empty apartment from top to bottom. Since my landlord has threatened to be there, I now plan to clean as I pack and then when the movers come and I leave with them, to have that be it so that I can get out of there, be rid of her, and never come back. I'll get it all as clean as possible but my original plan to get the place sparkling, with carpets cleaned and everything, went out the window after she spoke to me the way she did. Of course she won't see it that way but at this point I want to do anything possible to never have to see her face again.

 

The cop who spoke with her told me that if she starts verbally assaulting me, to keep my phone with me so that I can immediately start recording her, and then he said I can call the police and they'll send an officer over. I really hope it doesn't come to that because honestly I want to do whatever I have to to not endure another verbal attack...or...and I do fear this...a physical one.

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Do video and take pictures with the date and time showing. Also, do not go alone, bring family and/or friends, whoever can help. I suggest the quicker you move out the better off you will be. And yes ask someone to sleep over for the rest of your time there, better to be safe than sorry.

 

How do I set up video surveillance while I am away? I don't know how to do that.

 

My only recourse is to take photos of what everything looks like before I leave the apartment in the morning, and then compare them with what I see when I come home in the evening and if there is a discrepancy, to call the police and tell them she has been trespassing. The other recourse in addition is to pull something up against the door as I am leaving so that if someone tries to come in they'll have to push that aside to get inside.

 

I don't think I can get anyone to sleep over but I do plan to start pushing a heavy box up against the door at night starting tomorrow. I don't know when my landlord will be coming into town to "see about the apartment" (her words) but I'm pretty sure it can't be before Monday. Starting Monday especially, I'm going to be very scared and on high alert. I am going to have a friend over every evening because I don't think she'll dare harass me with a witness present.

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She can't just come in and start working. I believe in most states, landlords have to give at least 24 hours' notice when they need to enter the apartment. You may want to look that up to be certain. If she gives you proper notice, I guess you'd have to let her in to start painting. If not, she would be trespassing and you should absolutely call the police. Also, keep in mind that since you've paid February rent, that place is yours until the end of the month, even if you move all your stuff out on the 10th. I'm not suggesting that you have anything to do with the place once you've moved out, but just know your rights.

 

My mom suggests that since I have rights to the apartment to the end of the month, that I not hand over the keys when I leave and send them to her at the end of the month. She'll change the locks anyway, as she said she'd do "the moment I leave" (her words), but it would just be a way to sock it to her and insist upon the rights I do have. My inclination is to leave the keys and be done with it.

 

So it's her son that you've mostly been dealing with so far? Is he a reasonable person? If he seems decent and fair, you should let him know what's going on and tell him that she threatened to change the locks and move your stuff out. He might be able to talk some sense into her.

 

No, I've never dealt with her son. He's just a few years out of college and I barely know him. My landlords just moved in December; they used to live in the house on the same property as my apartment. My feeling is he won't want to be involved but he's a bit of a milquetoast so if his mom says jump he will jump. I do not trust him either, for that reason.

 

Set up a camera in your house. They're not that expensive. I'm not sure you can legally change the locks or use some kind of combination lock to prevent them from entering, but you can totally hide a camera in there so you have proof if she comes in and starts damaging/moving your property.

 

As I asked Whichwayisup, how do I do that? I have never had to do it and if it's easy enough, I'd love to rig something so that I can at least have evidence of any trespassing and tampering with my things. I'd send the evidence directly to the police and try to have her arrested.

 

Are you a month-to-month renter, or did you sign a lease for a certain length of time? If you signed a lease and you're trying to get out of it early, you might have some more problems coming your way. If you're month-to-month, in my experience, you must give a 30-day notice to vacate. If you did this on the 1st of February, you may not have given a proper 30-day notice, since Feb only has 28 days. I'm honestly not sure how that works, but you may want to find out for certain so that you are 100% in the right, legally.

 

I gave her exactly 30 days' notice. Where I live, 21 days is required.

 

Get all of your paperwork in order. Find a copy of your lease, proof that you've paid your rent, proof that you gave notice to vacate, etc. Document every single thing that happens. Even if it's just a verbal conversation, write down the date, time, and place it happened and what the conversation entailed.

 

For my own curiosity, do you have any idea why she flipped out on you? Like, are you trying to break your lease early, for example? There's no justifying her insanity and verbal abuse, but I'm just wondering if her anger has any basis in reality, at all.

 

Thanks. I have been documenting everything. I even took a photo of my last rent check and my emails to her especially in this past week sound like legal documents :-D .

 

Re: why she flipped out, I don't know. I have been an excellent tenant. She was nice in the beginning, but there always was something phony I sensed in her that I never could quite put my finger on. then one day in 2013 she offered to take me to physical therapy down the road when I tore some knee ligaments and could not drive for almost a month; SHE got the time wrong and showed up at my door and started yelling and pounding on it. I wasn't expecting her so I was surprised, and when I answered the door, before I had a chance to tell her that she was two hours early she chewed me out for some minutes. That was the first time. She has been abusive when she has told me she is going up on the rent, increasing it once as much as $200/mo. This most recent level of meanness was unprecedented but I already knew she was capable of it.

 

And the reason I am afraid and writing this thread is because I am 100% positive she is capable of much more. I don't think she has any scruples about being as nasty as she possibly can at this point, and just because she can, not for any other reason. I've never encountered someone quite like this.

 

I am afraid.

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Definitely do get those friends involved - if I were nearby and a friend I'd be more than happy to help out plus I would happily help you pack and clean too.

 

Do you still have that original lease?

Even though the basis changed to verbal agreements and month to month it's worth reading.

 

The blunt stuff - because the agreement appears to have always been 2 months notice there is a possibility that she could sue you for that other month.

There is also wear and tear to be considered and things like intense cleaning and redecoration might be on her list of things she would be thinking of to claim from you for.

In light of those two things my suggestion would be to get at least a free consult with a lawyer experienced in tenant & landlord law. Many places offer this and it would be better to know where you stood sooner rather than later legally and financially.

 

I would advise not holding onto keys - I think you're right in thinking it's best to give them up once you go and all of your stuff is out.

I would be wary of trusting her if she requests the keys earlier on move out day. I asked a lodger to give me her keys upon her first exit leaving my place but I left her access to continue removing her stuff and would not have dreamt of shutting the door until she had taken all of her things but with your landlady I wouldn't trust her on that score. Though, you would then have recourse to call the police if that happened.

 

Is there any possibility you could take a few days off work and explain to them what is happening? It could be worth a shot and you could then have more time getting things packed and ready and be in the property so it's protected to some degree.

 

I totally understand your fear but also, do remember that most people feel less strong face to face rather than over the phone or in emails.

Definitely take lots of photos both of clean perfect areas and of any marks which were there before you moved in or which occurred during your stay. Floors and walls and all doors too - all three are the most common places for any damage to occur or to be done if a landlord is so inclined.

 

Camera surveillance - you can get cameras now that are quiet and be concealed inside things - eg a teddy bear (as an example).

If you did want to do anything about this though my one thought is to place a camera inside a packing box aimed at the door giving enough space to see who has walked in. Some packing boxes come with hand hold holes.

But, if you would be unable to watch the activity consistently whilst at work for instance or the device has no way to alert you to check when it registers movement so you can see if something has happened it might not be worth the cost and hassle.

 

IMPORTANT: Though I and also others are asking questions here, certainly from my perspective please don't feel any obligation to answer - I am more trying to offer thoughts on things you could do and you have quite enough to get done over a short period of time and it's far more important you get that all done.

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If there is anything in your apartment that is truly priceless to you, get it out immediately. Take it to a friend's or your parents or your new place. I'm taking pets, some antique your grandmother gave you etc. The rest . . . it's stuff. If the landlord damages it you have legal recourse to get paid for any damage she caused. If you paid through February & she cashes the check, you have rights to stay in the apartment through February. In most states courts look down upon landlords who bully tenants.

 

She sounds horrible but you are moving. I doubt she'll physically hurt you or damage your things. Try to breathe. Know the police are on your side.

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My mom suggests that since I have rights to the apartment to the end of the month, that I not hand over the keys when I leave and send them to her at the end of the month. She'll change the locks anyway, as she said she'd do "the moment I leave" (her words), but it would just be a way to sock it to her and insist upon the rights I do have. My inclination is to leave the keys and be done with it.

DO not listen to your mom's advice. Listen to your own instinct! Playing a game with the keys is just going to make this woman more mad and cause more problems for you, especially since you've already involved the police you need to do everything by the book so she can't make you look bad or accuse you of wrong doings. I'm surprised your mom suggested you hang onto the keys after you leave for good. That's just asking for trouble! As soon as you move out, return the keys. Less drama the better for you in the long run!

 

Go to any electronics store and ask them to help you set it up.

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You can get motion sensor cameras and set them up pretty easily. Some of them will connect to wireless and save recordings to the cloud for a monthly fee. For a few hundred bucks it's not a bad thing to set up, then take it with you.

 

 

If you go to home depot or some place like that you can get fake cameras you can put above your door on the outside too that give the appearance of a security camera. She might see it and assume you're recording and stay out.

 

 

A cheaper solution is if you have an old web camera or something and set it up right where you would open a door, running the cord to a PC that's powered on where she can see it powered on. Post a sign right underneath it that says, "Smile, you're being recorded". The hope would be she walks in the door, sees it and leaves believing she is being recorded. You are in your right to do any of those things. An actual camera is best, but the appearance of one might be a free alternative.

 

 

A couple of other things you could do-

You can close a piece of string in the door where it is not noticeable. That way, if you come home and the string is on the ground you know if she came in.

 

 

In my old apartment I was worried about someone coming in at one point.

I was able to set a pot on a small stand and pull it behind the door when I closed it by reaching in and dragging it behind the door, so it would fall over if someone opened the door more than a couple of inches. I set the handle in a certain position towards the door so two things would happen, a loud crash if they opened the door that might make them freak when they saw what it was and leave right away. Even if they could get it back in place, I had an auto mirror, the telescoping kind you could bend to see around angles, so I could crack the door open and look at the pot with the mirror to see the handle was in a different position without opening the door. They wouldn't know which way I had set it up after it fell over so even if they were smart enough to put it back, they would never know to put the handle in the same position.

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